Give Up, Tetsu
by kukumalu01
Summary: [one-shot] It was not the first time that Kuroko raised his voice, but the occasions were so few and far in between that it caught Aomine by surprise.


Seirin was undoubtedly going to lose. Seirin was _undoubtedly_ going to lose. Seirin was undoubtedly going to _lose_.

There was fire in Kuroko's pale blue eyes.

"Unless all the players have given up, there is 0% probability that we will lose. And that is why," Kuroko said, his voice growing louder at each word, "that is why I WON'T GIVE UP!"

* * *

It was not the first time that Kuroko raised his voice, but the occasions were so few and far in between that it still caught Aomine by surprise.

Then, Kuroko surprised Aomine a few weeks later, with his evolved style of playing. The fire had yet to go out.

"Please get ready," Kuroko stated, firmly clutching the basketball with both hands. "Again."

"Do we have to?" came the lazy drawl. "I admire your dedication and all, but I want some food."

"Again."

"Tetsu–"

Fingers pressed harder against the orange texture. "_Again_."

* * *

Aomine was never sure from where did Kuroko get his perseverance. Kuroko always acted like he had all the time in the world. As long as he put in maximum effort, the results would show. Maybe that was why Midorima sometimes showed his vented frustration on Kuroko. Midorima believed in the same principle, and its constant failure in Kuroko threw him off greatly. (Of course, that was only a baseless theory.)

* * *

The day that Akashi showed up in the courts with heterocoloured eyes, nobody remarked about them. He doubled the training menu. _That_ drew some response.

Kuroko commented on neither.

Later, on the way home, he asked Aomine. "Is winning everything?"

"Yes," Aomine replied immediately, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Even your health?"

"… Eh." The non-committed response seemed to dissatisfy the shorter. Aomine side-eyed his shadow. "If you're feeling unwell, Tetsu… Satsuki probably will know what to do."

Though useless, that was as much help as Aomine could offer, so Kuroko said nothing.

"Would you?" Aomine asked just to check. It was a different kind of silence, that Kuroko was giving, and it nettled him. "Give up, I mean."

The silence stretched for so long, that Aomine thought Kuroko did not hear him. It was just that Aomine did not catch the slight shrug that Kuroko gave in response.

It all went downhill from there.

* * *

For a split-second, Aomine expected a pass to come from across the court.

Then, he caught himself. Kuroko was benched that game.

Again.

* * *

When Kuroko decided, in a manner of speaking, to declare war on the Generation of Miracles, Aomine was not amused.

However, he was also on the rooftop, lying on his back and idly admiring the cloudless sky. On the other hand, Kuroko was standing at the entrance doorway. Unbeknownst to the ace, Kuroko had his fingers so tightly curled into his palm, that the edges around the nails were white.

"Go away, Tetsu."

"It's practice time now," Kuroko shot back instantly.

"I don't need to practice. I'm better than everyone else."

"…Yes." The note of defeat, of bone-deep weariness, echoed clearly in the one word. It was a familiar tone, but the voice saying it was not. Since when did _Kuroko_ give up?

It actually made Aomine turn, putting his weight on his right arm as he looked towards the entrance.

By then, the phantom man was gone.

* * *

"YOU QUIT THE CLUB?"

"When you stopped coming to practices," Kuroko defended, looking up at the irate face in the middle of the corridor, holding too many textbooks in his arms. Most importantly, he was wearing the school uniform when it was time for basketball practice. Forget being invisible, Aomine could barely _recognize_ Kuroko. "In a way, you quit too."

* * *

Aomine did not see Kuroko for the rest of the year.

* * *

Silky pink hair suddenly blocked the blue sky. "Did you hear? Tetsu-kun got into Seirin!"

"Wa…?"

He had not heard the name in months.

* * *

Aomine watched some of Seirin's matches. Even if he wasn't physically dragged to the stadium, Satsuki and the coach forced the first-string to watch recorded clips. When he did attend those after-practice meetings – it was _Kuroko_ he was watching after all – the same thought played in his head. _He didn't give up_.

The Seirin match was going to be fun.

* * *

"Give up, Tetsu."

Pale blue eyes met dark blue eyes. "No."

* * *

_Good_.

**fin**


End file.
